Broadway Box Office Up 16% To $23M For Week Ending Nov. 7; Three Productions Join Roster

Remember when New York and Los Angeles use to post big figures for the opening of a specialty film at the box office?

Thanksgiving — “Coco” launched at the same time of year with $72 million and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” did as well with $84 million — the result was the best opening for an animated movie during the pandemic.Family films have been especially slow to bounce back, though with kids increasingly getting vaccinated, hopes have been rising that releases such as “Encanto” can lead a rebound.

COVID-addled box office, distributors with top prestige films have been mulling whether to release on several hundred screens or with the traditional four-screen platform strategy. Their decision for Anderson’s latest film was a wise one.With a per screen average of $83,852, “Licorice Pizza” has earned by far the highest average of any release this year, more than triple the $26,889 average that A24’s “C’mon C’mon” earned last weekend from five screens.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterPaul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” has secured the best pandemic-era debut at the independent box office.With speciality offerings like “Licorice Pizza,” the key metric is per-theater-average rather than overall box office tally since its playing in very few locations.

Encanto is on top at the box office!

“Encanto” has opened to roughly half of which fellow Disney films “Moana” ($82 million) and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” ($84.7 million) earned in their Thanksgiving openings, but is notable for being the first animated film this year to release exclusively in theaters. Studios have hedged their bets on family turnout to theaters by releasing animated films like “Paw Patrol: The Movie” and “Space Jam 2” day-and-date.

SUNDAY AM UPDATE, Refresh for more analysis and chart: Without Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick in the marketplace, the Thanksgiving box office was much lighter than previous holidays, grossing an estimated $141.3M over 5-days, off 46% from 2019’s pre-pandemic holiday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney has reclaimed its rightful place at the top of Thanksgiving box office charts.

“Encanto” is set to take No. 1, adding $11 million on Friday to bring its 3-day total to $24.3 million and its estimated 5-day opening to $43 million, beating projections for a $35-40 million launch.

J. Kim Murphy administratorWhile this year’s Thanksgiving box office will wind up totaling far less than previous years’ holidays, there were still plenty of viewers to go around between the weekend’s offerings.

In a benchmark that was to be expected, Warner Bros./Legendary’s feature adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune has clocked past $100 million at the domestic box office. This brings the global running total to north of $370M; the ultimate exclamation point here for the Denis Villeneuve directed movie being $400M WW. Dune made $400K on Thanksgiving yesterday sending its domestic total to $100.1M.

After earning $7.5 million on opening day, “Encanto” has added $5.8 million on Thanksgiving Day to bring its total to $13.3 million heading into the weekend. While tracking is difficult at this point, the film appears to be on track to beat pre-release projections of $35-40 million.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDisney’s “Encanto,” a magical fable that has earned critical raves, led a muted Thanksgiving box office, earning $5.8 million on Thursday and pushing its domestic total to $13.3 million.This holiday is shaping up to be far quieter than past ones, a sign that COVID-19 continues to depress ticket sales in the U.S. despite the widespread availability of boosters and vaccines for younger children.

Happy Friday International Insiders, Tom Grater here delivering your post-Thanksgiving rundown of the week’s top headlines. To get this sent to your inbox every Friday, sign up here.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDisney’s “Encanto” topped the Wednesday box office, netting $7.5 million in its first full day of release. The family film has heavy competition over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin” has become the highest grossing film of all time in China, after nearly two months of release. Co-directed by a trio of major helmers, Dante Lam, Chen Kaige and Tsui Hark, it is also the top earning film in the world this year.The Chinese record was achieved on Wednesday evening local time when the film passed the RMB5.69 billion total achieved in 2017 by “Wolf Warrior II,” another patriotic war film.

EXCLUSIVE: By this weekend, Warner Bros/Legendary’s Dune will cross $100M, making it the second movie from the studio this year to clear the century mark stateside off their controversial day-and-date theatrical HBO Max pandemic strategy.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDisney’s “Encanto” netted $1.5 million in Tuesday evening previews and MGM’s star-studded crime drama “House of Gucci” brought in $1.3 million ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.“Encanto” is expected to top the box office and generate $40 million over the five-day period, a more muted launch for a Disney holiday offering than previous Thanksgiving debuts from the Mouse House such as “Frozen II” in 2019 ($123,7 million), “Ralph Breaks the Internet” in

“Encanto,” Disney’s latest animated feature that boasts original music from Lin-Manuel Miranda, earned $1.5 million in its box office preview screenings Tuesday night ahead of a busy Thanksgiving weekend at the box office. “Encanto” opens alongside MGM’s “House of Gucci” starring Lady Gaga and Sony/Screen Gems’ “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City,” a reboot of the video game action and horror franchise.